Apparatus for packaging articles



NM 7, 1933. J. A. KERR APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING ARTICLES M. mm

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N m 1933. J. A. KERR APPARATUS FOR PACKAGI NG ARTICLES Filed April 5, i926 l3 Sheets-$heet 1 J. A. KERR APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING ARTICLES Filed April 5, 1926 13 Sheets-Sheet 13 Patented Nov, 7, 39313 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING ARTICLES Application April 5, 1926. Serial No. 99,787

67 Claims.

This invention pertains to apparatus for packaging elongate flexible strand-like articles and that embodiment of the invention chosen for illustration is concerned with the packaging of tipped laces, for example shoe laces. While adapted to package one or more such strand-like objects the invention is herein specifically described with reference to the packaging of such articles in pairs, the operation performed being that commonly known as respects the packaging of shoe laces as pairing.

Shoe laces, at least those of all but the lowest grades, are commonly sold in pairs, the two laces constituting a pair being arranged in the form of an elongate coil or skein and being bound together by means of a paper or other appropriate cincture.

The trade demands that the packaged laces present a neat and attractive appearance, each package being of substantially uniform length and with the ends of the laces bound in by the wrapper. Moreover in packaging flat laces custom requires that each lace be wound or coiled upon itself without twist to form a skein or coil independent of its companion lace and that the two skeins orcoils be disposed in parallel face to face relation in the package. Since the laces as received from the tipping machine are not always of exactly the same length care is required in windingthem so that the ends of both laces of a pair shall be bound in by the wrapper and since the braid of which the laces are usually prepared sometimes has a slight tendency to twist it is not an altogether easy problem to wind the two laces simultaneously to form the parallel skeins demanded by the trade.

The usual present day practice in pairing shoe laces consists in simultaneously winding the laces of the pair by hand to form skeins and then, by hand, binding the akeined laces together by means of a paper wrapper. The operator is usually furnished with a small hand reel having parallel arms, one at least of which is furnished with a clip, slot, or other device for receiving one end of each lace. In using the reel the operator inserts the end portions of the two laces side by side in the slot or clip, determining the distance to which the tips extend beyond the retaining means by the use of a suitable gauge. The operator then turns the reel with one hand while holding the depending laces between the thumb and fingers of the other hand, thereby tensioning and keeping them smooth, untwisted and substantially parallel as they are wound to form the coil or skein. The gauge employed is so set that the inner ends of the laces are disposed substantially at the center of the skein while the reel arms are so spaced that the ends of the laces which are at the outside of the skein are located near the center of length of the skein or at least inwardly from the ends thereof.

When the paper wrapper is now applied to the central part of the skein the inner pair of tips is entirely concealed while the outer ends of the laces are bound in at a point so near to the tips that the tips, if not actually covered by the wrapper, are kept within the bounds of the package.

While this mode of hand packaging produces satisfactory results, it is an operation which requires a considerable degree of skill and manual dexterity, if it is to be performed at economical speed, and at best constitutes a considerable item in the cost of lace manufacture. The principal object of the'present invention is to provide novel apparatus by means of which the laces may be packaged in a satisfactory manner but more rapidly than by present methods and with a minimum requirement of attention from an operator, the laces being delivered if desired directly from the tipping machine to the packaging apparatus.

While I herein employ the term skein as a convenient mode of describing the general shape and appearance of the laces after reeling, I use it without reference to the length of the material being reeled and do not intend it to be construed in the narrow and technical sense in which it is employed in the textile arts. In the same way I have used the term coil in some instances to designate the reeled article but without any intention of limiting this expression to a coil of circular contour, but while the term coil might from some viewpoints be considered as of broader meaning than skein, I use the latter term herein as substantially synonymous with the former as defining and applicable to a strandlike article so folded, wound, reeled or otherwisemanipulated as to form a package comprising a plurality of bights or runs of such article in juxtaposed relation.

Furthermore while the apparatus is particularly useful in pairing shoe laces it is conceivable that it may be of utility in packaging other articles and I have employed the term strandlike article as comprehensive of any elongate flexible article of substantially definite length which it may be desired to reel and wrap, either singly or in multiples, to form packages of definite proportions and uniform appearance and of which shoe laces are cited merely as one example.

In the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment of mechanism useful in performing my improved process is illustrated by way of example. In the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the steps in the complete process;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the preferred apparatus, certain parts being omitted and certain parts being in section or broken away, but showing the general relation of the presenting means, the reeling means. the transferring means and the wrapping means;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective showing parts of the transferring and wrapping devices;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view, partly in section. showing one form of reservoir conveyor for presenting the articles to the reel, most of the remainder of the machine being omitted;

Fig. 5a is a fragmentary side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 5, many parts being omitted;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal section on the line 66 of Fig. 5a showing a portion of the drive mechanism for the article-presenting means;

Fig. 6a is a fragmentary plan view showing lace separating means preferably associated with the presenting means of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary side elevation from the same side of the machine as Fig. 2, but to larger scale, showing the reel and associated parts in position to receive an article to be wound;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevation from the opposite side of the machine from Fig. '7 showing the reel in winding position and the transferring means in the act of moving a previously wound pair of laces away from the reeling means;

Fig. 9 is a view generally similar to Fig. 8 but showing the parts at the completion of the reeling operation and in position for transferring the reeled laces to the transfer device;

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 9 but showing the parts at the completion of the stripping operation;

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary vertical section sub* stantially on the line 11--11 of Fig. 7 showing a pair of laces as having just been presented to the reel;

Fig. 12 is a section substantially on the line 1212 of Fig. 8 but to larger scale;

Fig. 13 is a bottom plan view from the position of the line 1313 in Fig. 11;

Fig. 14 is a horizontal section through the shaft of the transfer device, showing the skein holding elements of the transfer device in plan;

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary section substantially on the line 15-15 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 16 is a fragmentary section substantially similar to Fig. 12 but showing the article gripping means in position for receiving the end of the article to be reeled;

Fig. 17 is a fragmentary section on the line 17-17 of Fig. 16;

Fig. 18 is a vertical section on the line 18-18 of Fig. '7 omitting certain parts for the sake of clearness in illustration;

Fig. 19 is a fragmentary sect-ion substantially on the line 19l9 of Fig. 18;

Fig. 20 is a section substantially on the line 20--20 of Fig. 18 but showing the tensioning device in operative position;

Fig. 21 is a section to larger scale substantially on the line 21-21 of 20.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 1, the apparatus comprises broadly a mechanism A adapted to perform a preliminary operation upon the strand-like articles,--for example, if as here specifically described these articles are shoe laces, the mechanism A may be the tipping machine.

The improved apparatus also comprises mechanism B adapted to transfer the laces from the mechanism A to a reeling device C. For purposes of. illustration the mechanism B is here disclosed as an endless conveyor adapted to receive and hold a plurality of pairs of laces on their way from the tipping machine A to the winding mechanism C. This conveyor in its preferred form constitutes a storage reservoir adapted to receive and hold a large number of pairs of laces. However, in its broader aspects the invention contemplates the provision of other means for transferring laces from the tipping machine A to the reeling means C and such transferring means may or may not provide storage for a plurality of pairs of laces. For example the means 13 may provide for transferring a single lace or pair of laces directly from the tipping machine to the reeling means.

The improved apparatus further provides a transfer device D which receives the ,coiled laces from the winding means C and which transfers such coiled laces to a wrapping mechanism designated by the letter E. Preferably the transfer mechanism D is so designed that while it is receiving a pair of coiled laces from the reeling means C, it may simultaneously deliver a previously wound pair of laces to the wrapping mechanism. Obviously, so far as its broader aspects are concerned, certain of the devices A, B, etc., might be combined in a single unit. For example, the transfer D and wrapping device E may be so combined.

The several mechanisms C, D, E are preferably mounted upon a common table or support 1 provided with suitable legs 2, and this table also supports part at least of the mechanism B. If desired the mechanisms A and B may be wholly mounted on this table or support 1 but ordinarily the mechanism A will have an independent base which will carry one end of the mechanism B.

Without specifically describing the structure of the mechanism A it may be assumed that it is provided with suitable dies or other elements of usual character for applying tips to braided laces, for example as shown in either of the pat-- I ents to Church, 866,916, dated September 24. 1907 or Albracht, 763,832, dated June 28, 1904, and preferably this apparatus is so arranged that the tipped laces are delivered directly to holders or supports forming a part of the storage reservoir or conveyor as hereinafter described. To this end the tipping machine is driven in timed relation to the other parts of the apparatus by suitable drive connections (not shown) leading from shaft 4 hereafter described. Although such delivery means may be provided, it is contemplated that the operator may by hand take the laces as delivered from the tipping machine or from any other suitable source of supply and insert them in the supports of the storage reservoir.

Reservoir conveyor Referring now particularly to Figs. 2. 3, 5, 5a, 6 and 6a the frame of the machine is shown as provided with a supporting bracket 3 having bearings for a main drive shaft 4 provided at one end with a. drive pulley 5 receiving power from any suitable source.

The mechanism B is here shown as consisting of an endless conveyor chain 6 provided at intervals with outstanding holders or supports '7. These lace supports aIe preferably furnished with open-ended narrow slots 8 adapted to receive a pair of laces 9, 10, disposed side by side. While the machine is particularly intended for winding fiat laces including fiat tubular laces such as are illustrated in the drawings, it is equally capable of winding laces of other type. The laces of each pair are inserted in the slot in the corresponding support '7 with the tip at one end of each lace at a predetermined distance below the support 7, (see Fig. 7), this distance being determined by a gauge or other suitable means not shown, provided the laces are inserted in the support 7 by hand. If inserted mechanically the operation of the mechanical positioning means may be such as to place the laces in proper position with one end of each lace dependingfrom the support to the right amount. The opposite ends of the laces hang freely from the support and may trail behind the support as the latter moves forwardly with the conveyor chain. The chain 6 is of sufiicient length so that as many pairs of laces as desired may be supported thereon at the same time, thus constituting a storage reservoir.

The chain 6 passes around a sprocket wheel 11 (Figs. 1, 5 and 5a) mounted on a shaft 12 supported in a bracket 13 forming the upper part of a pedestal 13 carried by the table 1. The chain also passes around a suitable guide sprocket 11 (Fig. 1) disposed adjacent to the mechanism A if the latter be employed. A second guide sprocket 14 (Figs. 1, 3 and 5) engages the chain at a point near the sprocket 11 and is adapted to cause one run of the chain to diverge from parallelism with the other run so as to bring the supports into proper delivery relation to the winding means. The sprocket 14 is mounted upon a stub shaft 15 also carried by the bracket 13. A gear 16 is secured to the upper end of shaft 12 so as to turn therewith and meshes with a pinion 16 on a stub shaft 16 carried by the bracket 13. A sprocket 17 is secured to the shaft 16 or directly to pinion 16 and a chain 18 passes around the sprocket 1'7 and also about a sprocket 19 carried by an intermittently driven shaft 110 hereafter described.

Tensioning means At a point near the delivery end of the conveyor chain suitable tensioning and separating means is provided, this being shown particularly in Figs. 2, 3, 5, 5a, 20 and 21.

Referring to Fig. 5a, the numeral 20 designates a standard provided at its upper end with bearings for the reel shaft as hereinafter described. This standard 20 supports a bracket 21 having a trough-like supporting surface 22 (Figs. 2, 5, and

11) at its outer end. This trough-like surface is of a width such as to accommodate a pair of laces disposed in edge to edge relation and is furnished with upstanding fianges at its edges to prevent accidental escape of the laces. This supporting surface 22 is preferably inclined downwardly as indicated in Fig. 5a and from the center of the lower edge of this surface an elongate separating finger 23 depends. This finger preferably consists of a length of stiff wire or rod which reaches along the path of the conveyor (Fig. 5) to any desired extent, for example to the receiving end of the conveyor, and which lies in the vertical plane of the line of division between the laces of a pair as they move along with the conveyor chain. This finger 23 is adapted to enter between the trailing ends of the laces of the pair and to keep the latter separated as they are drawn across the surface 22 by the movement of the support 7. As indicated in Fig. 5 the supporting surface 22 is so disposed that the trailing ends of the laces are certain to engage such surface as the laces approach the reeling position.

Since it is difficult to support the thin wire finger23, if of substantial length, I prefer to employ the arrangement shown in Figs. 5 and 6a. In accordance with the preferred arrangement the finger 23 terminates a relatively short distance from the bracket 21 but its separating function beyond its terminus is performed by means of a fence comprising a chain of gate members supported below (Fig. 5a) and substantfally in the vertical plane of the loaded run of the chain. These gate members are arranged in pairs, each pair comprising a stationary member 23 supported at one end and having a hook at its other end, and a spring pressed swinging member 23 pivotally supported at one end and having a pin at its opposite end normally engaging the hook at the end of member 23 The gate members 23 and 23 are normally in alignment, and the successive pairs of gate members constitute a continuous fence separating the laces 9 and 10 of a pair as the latter move along with the conveyor. With this arrangement it is possible to pass the depending end of one of the laces of a pair, for example lace 10, transversely through the fence by swinging one of the gate members 23 as indicated in broken lines in Fig. 6a said member automatically return ng to normal position under the action of its spring 23 to complete the continuity of the fence as soon as it is released. This type of fence is of especial utility in feeding the laces mechanically to the holder 7 since the laces may be positioned without the necessity of elevating one lace of the pair to drop it over the fence.

If desired the wire finger 23 may be dispensed with and replaced by the end most gate 23*- of the series.

The supporting surface 22 forms one element of lace tensioning means, such tensioning means also comprising a movable element now to be described, reference being had especially to Figs. 3, '7, and 20. The numeral 24 designates a bracket extending horizontally from the upper part of the standard 20 and which carries a stub shaft 25 (Fig. 7) supporting a lever arm 26. This lever arm is provided with a rearwardly extending toe 27 connected by a link 28 to a bracket 29 secured to a vertically sliding bar 30. This bar moves in a guideway formed in a boss 31 forming a part of or attached to the table 1. The upper end 32 of the bar 30 preferably projects upwardly beyond the point of attachment of the bracket 29 and forms centering means for a compression spring 33 which bears at its lower end against the bracket 29 and at its upper end against a convenient fixed part, for example the bracket 21.

The lower end of the bar 30 projects down through an opening in the table 1 and its lower extremity rests upon the edge of a plate cam 34. Referring more particularly to Figs. 18 and 20, this cam 34 is shown as having arcuate dwell portions 35 and 36 connected at their opposite ends by cam slopes 37 and 37. Preferably this cam is furnished with slots 34 for the reception of bolts 34 which secure it to a disk 34 (Fig. 18) fixed to shaft 38. By thus mounting the cam 34, it is possible to adjust it to obtain the proper timing.

The shaft 38 is provided with a bevel gear meshing with a bevel gear carried by a shaft 39 mounted in suitable brackets carried by the table 1 and which is driven through bevel gears by a vertical shaft 40 (Fig. 2) mounted in the bracket 3. The shaft 40 is provided with a worm wheel 41 driven by a worm 42 on the drive shaft 4. The connections thus described cause the cam 34 to rotate slowly but in a continuous manner during the operation of the machine.

The free or forward end of the arm 26 is furnished with a spring housing 243 (Fig. 21) having a cylindrical bore for the reception of a slide member 244 provided at its lower end with a contact shoe 244 adapted to engage the laces resting upon the surface 22. This contact shoe 244 may be of any suitable material according to the degree of friction which it is desired to impose upon the laces.

The member 244 is provided with a stem 246 passing through an opening in the top of the housing 243 and this stem is encircled by a coiled compression spring 247 within the housing. This spring tends to move the shoe 244 downwardly and this movement is limited by a nut 248 engaging the screw-threaded upper end of the stem 246.

When the lower end 30 of the rod 30 engages the cam dwell 35 the arm 26 occupies the position shown in Fig. 7, but when the revolution of the cam 34 brings the surface 36 into engagement with the end of the rod 36 the arm 26 is swung downwardly, bringing the shoe 244 into resilient contact with the laces resting upon the surface 22. The spring 247 is so adjusted as to produce the desired tension upon the laces while they are being wound upon the reel.

Reeling means The reeling means C comprises a hollow axially movable shaft 43 (Figs. 7, 9 and 12) journalled in bearings in the upper part of the standard 20 as above referred to. This hollow shaft 43 is provided with a disk-like stop flange 44 adapted to engage the rear end of the shaft bearings in standard 20 and thus to limit axial movement of the shaft in a forward direction. To the rear of the flange or disk 44 the shaft 43 is furnished with an elongate pinion 45. The forward end of the shaft 43 carries a reel comprising the elongate back member 46 (Fig. 12) fixedly secured to the shaft 43.

Referring particularly to Figs. 3, 12, 16 and 17, this back member 46 of the reel is provided at its opposite ends with forwardly projecting reel arms preferably of like character and each comprising separable jaw members 47 and 48. These jaw members project forwardly through an elongate curved slot 49 near the end of the back member 46 and are carried respectively by the upper ends of levers 50 and 51 (Fig. 12) pivotally supported upon a pin 52 secured to the back member 46. The levers 50 and 51 are provided respectively with depending legs 50 and 51 which extend toward the shaft 43 and preferably across an opening 53 in the back member 46. A fixed cam 54 projects forwardly from the upper part of the standard 20 and this cam is furnished with a beveled surface 54 (Fig. 17 at its forward end adapted in oneaxial position of the shaft 43 to enter between the legs 50 and 51 and thus to separate the jaw member 47 from the jaw member 48. Normally these jaw members are held in gripping relation by means of a spring 52 engaging the leg 51 and the lever 50.

Since the forwardly projecting reel arm at the opposite end of the back member 46 is preferably of identical construction with that just described, detailed description of said second arm is unnecessary.

When the gripper jaw member 47 is separated from the jaw member 48 a space 55 (Figs. 3 and 16) is provided between them for the reception of the depending short ends of a pair of laces presented by one of the moving supports 7 of the reservoir device. As shown in Fig. 3, the path of travel of the support is such that when the reel occupies the receiving position shown in this figure, the short advancing ends of the laces carried by the support are caused to depend in the vertical plane of the slot or space 55 between the jaw members of the upper reel arm.

A bracket 56 (Figs. 3, 11, and 18) projects laterally from the frame and this bracket is furnished with an arcuate slot 57 (Fig. 11) in which a stub shaft 58 is adjustably secured. This shaft 58 carries a large gear 59 which meshes with the elongate pinion 45 on the shaft 43. The gear 59 is adjustably connected by bolts 59 ,(Fig. 3) to the hub 60 of a mutilated gear 61. The adjustable connection of gear 59 to the hub 60 permits the reel to be centered accurately relatively to the cooperating parts. The gear 61 is provided with diametrally opposed blank spaces or dwells 62 and meshes with a second mutilated gear 63 having a single dwell portion 64 of substantially semi-circumferential extent. The gear 63 is mounted upon a shaft 65 turning in suitable bearings 65 in the frame and provided with a bevel gear 66 meshing with a bevel gear 67 carried by a shaft 68 turning in a bearing boss supported by the table 1.

The shaft 68 projects down through the table 1 and is provided at its lower end with a bevel gear 70 meshing with a gear 71 on a shaft 72 mounted in bearings 73 and 74 supported by the table. The shaft 72 is provided with a gear 75 meshing with a gear 76 on the shaft 39 above described. The shaft 72 thus turns continuously during the operation of the machine, but -the shaft 43 is turned intermittently through the action of the gears 61 and 63. The latter are so con structed that for each half revolution of the shaft 72 the large gear 59 makes a half revolution and then dwells during the remainder of the revolution of the shaft 72.

The gear 59 bears such a ratio to the gear 45 that a half revolution of the gear 59 sufiices to turn the shaft 43 the exact number of times necessary to reel a pair of laces. To permit laces of different lengths to be reeled, the gear 59 may be interchanged with other gears of different diameter, the slot 57 in the bracket 56 permitting such change.

The stop disk 44 carried by the shaft 43 is furnished at diametrally opposite points with re cesses 76 and 77 respectively, (Fig. 18). A looking dog 78 (Figs. 7 and 18) is mounted to slide vertically in bearings 79 carried by the standard 20 and the upper end of this dog is adapted to engage one or the other of the recesses 76 and 77 and thus positively to lock the shaft 43 against rotati n with the reel properly centered. The recesses 76 and 77 are disposed in the vertical Cal provided at its inner e1 plane; of the back member 46 of the reel so that whenever the dog 78 engages one of the recesses in the disk the reel is held in vertical position with one of its coil supporting arms'at the extreme uppermost position.

The locking dog 78 is encircled by a spring 80 bearing at one end against one of the guides '79 and at its other against an adjustable collar '81 secured to the dog. This spring tends to raise the dog '78 and to hold it in looking position.

Referring to Figs. 18 and 19 the lower end of the dog 78 is shown as passing down through a guide opening in the table 1, and at a point somewhat above the table the dog is furnished with a bracket 82 carrying a laterally projecting stud 83 engaging the forked rear end of a lever pivotally supported at 85 upon the standard 213. The opposite end of this lever is also forked and receives a stud 86 projecting from a vertically sliding rod 87 passing down through a suitable guide opening in the table 1. The lower end of the rod rests against the edge of a plate cam 88 (Fig.

19) having dwell portions 89 and 90 connected by active cam surfaces. When the rod 87 engages the dwell 90 thespring 80 raises the lockdog T8 for engagement with one of the recesses '75 or '7? (Fig. 19) but when the rod 87 engages the dwell 89 the locking pin is retracted and occupies the position shown in Fig. 18.

The cam 88 is secured to the disk 34 attached the shaft 38 above described and preferably the is adjust-ably connected to the disk 3 1 by ans of bolts 92 18).

Stripping means Wit 11in the hollow reel shaft 13 is arranged a stripper shaft 9% (Figs. 3, 7, 1c and 12) which is adapted to rotate width the shaft and also to slide axially relative thereto. The shaft 94. is

id b str pp r plate 16 is furnished having a rece' 9. inwardiy 1 2 .ie upper end of a lever 98 (Fig. einent just described permits rotation 9-1 but'constrains the i e lever 98. .ing encircles the shaft 9%, bearing 1st t--e collar 95 and at its other e pinion 45. The lever point 180 upon a bracket 102 The lever 93 has a down- 1 connected by a spring 1e machine, the spring ver 98 so as to move the The lower arm 101 of the rwardly projecting toe roll 164 which engages This earn is provided 111 3, a dwell portion 167 "portion and a is adjustabiy mounted on 4 h arcusemen. still higher secured by part of the shaft hereinabove referred to. The upper part of this shaft is received in a tubular bearing 111' depending from a bridge member 112 having legs at its opposite ends which are mounted upon the table 1. The hub 113 (Fig. 8) of a rotary transfer turret is mounted between the upper end of the standard 109 and the lower end of the bearing 111 and is secured to the shaft 110 in any desired manner. This hub 113 carries a plurality of radially projecting arms, four such arms 114, 115, 116 and 11''! (Figs. 3 and 14) being shown herein. Each of these arms is provided with a radial bore or guideway for the reception of a shaft 118 which is prevented from rotating in the bore by means of a key 119 (Fig. 8). Each shaft 118 is furnished with a retracting spring 120 (Fig. 14.) secured at one end to a pin 121 projecting from the correspondingarm and at its opposite end to a pin 122 projecting from the shaft. The inner end of each shaft 118 is furnished with a beveled cam face 123 terminating in an abrupt shoulder or drop 124. The beveled ends 123 of the several shafts are adapted to engage a cam 124. secured.

to the lower end of the bearing sleeve 111, the arrangement being such that as the turret revolves the beveled surfaces 123 of the shafts 118 ride up successively onto the cam 12 i and after reaching a certain point drop suddenly from the latter, thereby permitting the spring 12% to retract the shaft which has been moved radially outwardly in its bearing by the action of the cam 12.

The outer end of each of the shafts 118 is furnished with an elongate coil holder 125 (Figs. 3, 8, 10 and 14) of substantially the same length as the rear member as of the reel. This cell hold er is furnished near its opposite ends with coil supporting arms each preferably consisting oi a pair of spaced members 126 and 126 providing between them a slot 127 (Fig. 1 1) of a width zxii cient to receive the inner ends of the laces as they are stripped from between the jaws of the reel. The coil supporting arms of the coil holder 125 are spaced apart substantially the same distance as the arms of the reel.

shaft 110 which carries the turret projects down below the table 1 i1) and is furnished with a wheel 128 (Figs. 11 and 13) forming one element of a Geneva intermittent drive mechanism. The complemental element of this Geneva drive is indicated at 1 9, such element being mounted upon the lower part or the shaft 68. Preferably the member 129 is secured to a disk 13G (attached to 68) by means or bolts 13?.- projecting through siren-- ate slots 131 in the dist: and enter threaded holes the member 129. The member 129 may thus be adjusted relatively to the shaft to obtain the desired timing of the parts.

The wheel 128 has four dwell portions corresponding to the tour arms of the tulret. and the parts are so arranged that the turret turns intermittently and when standing still always presents one or" its coil holders in receiving position and the diametrally opposite coil holder in a position such as to present its coil to the wrap ping mechanism.

Each coil holder is provided at trailing edge wi h sp ced bearings 133 (Fig. '1) in which rotary she, 13% is mounted. its upper end 13 1 is furnished w h late ally pro acting clamping arm 136 ad is to ene the coil mounted upon the of the holder and to confine the outer ends of the laces forming the coil. A spring 135 secured to and encircling the lower part of the shaft 134 is so tensioned as to tend to rotate the shaft 134 in a clockwise direction as viewed from the top, thus causing the arm 136 to press forcibly upon the outer free ends of the lace. A stop block 134, having a face which is normally spaced from, but which may come into contact with the adjacent surface of the edge of the coil holder 135 when the shaft 134 turns through a sufficient angle, is secured to the shaft 134 and limits movement of the latter by the spring 135. A contact plate 137 (Fig. 11) supported upon a bracket arm 152 hereafter described is engaged by the end of the arm 136 as the turret revolves toward coil receiving position and thus holds the arm 136 in an inoperative position until just before the turret stops.

The stripper plate is provided with elongate slots 138 (Fig. 12) and when the arm 136 is disengaged from plate 137 by movement of the latter as hereafter described, the arm 136 snaps into the uppermost slot 138 and is thus permitted to swing into operative engagement with the coils, thus confining the free or outer ends of the coils.

Pressing means In order to confine the laces during winding and to ensure the winding of each lace to form an independent coil or skein suitable pressing means is provided.

This pressing means comprises a horizontally sliding base member 140 (Figs. 3, 8, 11 and 15) mounted to slide between guide members 140 and 140 (Fig. 3) secured to the upper surface of the table 1. The slide member 140 carries an upstanding boss 141 having a journal opening for the lower end of a rotatable post 142. An actuating rod 143 is connected at one end to the boss 141 and its other end is guided in a suitable guideway in a block 144 secured to the table 1. A tension spring 145 is attached at one end to the slide member 140 and at its other to a pin carried by the block 144. Preferably the spring 145 extends into a bore in the block 144 for the sake of economy in space.

The free end of the actuating rod 143 engages the edge of a plate cam 146 (Figs. 3 and 11) mounted on the shaft abovedescribed. This cam rotates continuously during the operation of the machine and comprises a dwell portion 146, a riser portion 146 and a second dwell 146, the latter being followed by an abrupt drop.

A cam arm 1 17 (Figs. 11 and 15) is fixedly secured to the shaft or post 142 and engages an adjustable stop pin 148 mounted in a bracket 149 carried by the guide member 140. A spring 142 (Fig. 11) encircling the post 142 tends to turn the latter so as to keep the cam arm 147 always in contact with the stop member 148.

The upper end of the post 142 carries a bracket 151 supporting the overhanging arm 152 above referred to. This arm. 152 is provided at its outer end with a pressure shoe 153. This shoe is furnished with an arcuate lower surface 155 (Fig. 11) adapted to engage the coil upon the reel while the latter is rotating and this shoe is resiliently cushioned by means of suitable springs 154.

Wrapping means The wrapping mechanism may be of any suitable type but is here shown merely by way of example as comprising a casing 157 (Figs. 2, 3 and 4) mounted on the table 1, and containing a drive shaft 158 which is driven by a beveled gear 159 (Fig. 2) on the upper end of the shaft 40. The casing also supports an arm carrying a support for a coil of wrapping paper 160, the paper strip passing into the casing and over a guide pulley 161. The inner face of the casing 157 is furnished with a recess 162 (Fig. 2) adapted to receive the coil holder of the turret as the latter swings into its delivery position.

Within the recess 162 are mounted the sliding die members 163 and 164 (Fig. 4) whose opposed ends are adapted to engage a portion of the paper strip and to carry it around the coiled laces mounted upon the coil holder. A knife 166 mounted in a suitable guide 167 is adapted to cut off a suitable length from the paper strip just prior to the approach of the die members 163 and 164. The paper strip may be provided with adhesive in any suitable way and after the die members have Wrapped the severed portion of the paper about the coil on the coil holder, the wrapped coil may be stripped from the coil holder by hand or by any suitable stripper mechanism. Such stripper mechanism may be conveniently located to act upon the coil holder when the latter has made quarter revolution beyond the wrapping point. Since the stripping may conveniently be performed by hand no stripping mechanism has herein been shown.

Operation The operation of the mechanism as a whole is briefly as follows; it being assumed that the drive shaft 4 is in continuous rotation.

If the mechanism A is a tipping machine it is assumed that this machine is in operation, applying tips to the shoe laces and that as the tips are applied each successive pair of laces is entered into the slot in one of the supports 7 of the conveyor chain or reserve supply. As above stated this\entry of the pair of laces into the slot may be performed by hand, or mechanically, delivery means such for example as that disclosed in the patent to Church, supra, being generally adapted for the purpose. The laces forming a pair are placed in the slot 3 side by side and with the tip at one end of each lace depending below the support 7 a distance usually somewhat less than one half the length of the coil to be formed. The chain 6 is driven intermittently so that the supports 7 advance step by step toward the reeling means.

As a support with its pair of laces approaches the reeling position the trailing ends of the two laces which have been moving along upon opposite sides of the fence, come into engagement with opposite sides of the separator finger 23 so that as the laces are dragged across the support 22 they are kept separate and in proper relation.

As the support 7 with its pair of laces approaches the reeling position the gears 61 and 63 reach such a relative position that the gear 59 is stopped with the back member 46 of the reel in vertical position as indicated in Figs. 3, 7, or 11. At the same time the rotation of the earn 105 has brought the cam follower roll 104 onto the lowest part of the cam, and the spring 101 has moved the lever 98 and thereby the shaft 43 to its extreme rearward position, (Fig. 7). As the shaft 43 assumes this extreme rear position the cam 54 enters between the legs 50 and 51' of the pincer-like device carrying the jaw members 47 and 48 of the uppermost reel arm. thus moving the jaw 47 away from the jaw 48 to pro 105, thus swinging the lever vide the space 55 necessary for the reception of the dependent ends of the laces. The depending ends of the laces supported by the support 7 now occupy the position indicated in Fig. 5 where they are in the vertical plane of the space between the jaws 47 and 48.

The cam 105 continuing to rotate causes the roll 104 to ride up onto the dwell surface 107. During this motion the shaft 43 is advanced forwardly, thus causing the jaws 47 and 48 to pass upon opposite sides of the depending ends of the laces and as the roll 104 comes into engagement with the dwell 107 (Fig. 8) the jaws 47 and 48 are released from the cam 54 so that the jaw 47 approaches and the jaw 48 securely clamps the depending ends of the laces between them. The forward movement of the shaft 43 is limited by engagement of stop disk 44 with the standard 20. While the cam follower roll 104 engages the dwell 107, the rod 87 (Fig. 19) engages the dwell 89 of the cam 88, thus retracting the pin 78 from the disk 44 so as to permit free rotation of the shaft 43.

At about the same time that the roll 104 rides up onto dwell 107 of cam 105, the rotation of the cam 34 causes the lower end 30 of the rod 30 to ride up from the dwell of cam 34 onto the dwell 36. thereby swinging the tension arm 26 downwardly until its shoe 244 presses firmly against trailing ends of the laces lying upon the surface 22.

Before the above operations, the rotation of the cam 146 has permitted the actuating rod 143 to move quickly to the right as viewed in Figs. 11 and 15 under the action of spring 145, thus permitting the arm 147 to assume the dotted line position of Fig. 15, and bringing the shoe 155 into position to engage the outer surface of the winding coils shortly after the reel begins to turn. As the coil or skein builds up its outer layers engage the spring pressed shoe 155 which smooths the layers and holds them in proper relative position.

The various cam followers previously described new travel upon dwells of their respective cams during the winding operation. This winding is initiated by engagement of the teeth of the gear 63 with a toothed portion or" the gear 61, thus rotating the gear 59 (Fig. 11) a half revolution and thereby spinning the shaft 43 a sufficient number of turns to wind the entire length of the laces upon the arms of the reel. When the laces have thus been reeled, the gear 61 again comes to rest and at about this time the Geneva motion turns the turret a quarter revolution. As the reeling operation is completed, the cam follower roll 104 rides up onto the high part 108 of the cam 98 forwardly. At about this time the rod 87 (Fig. 19) drops from the dwell 89 onto the dwell 90 thus permitting the spring 80 to lift the locking pin 78 into engage ment with one of the notches of the disk The back member of the reel is thus held in substantially vertical position and directly opposite to one of the coil holders 125 of the turret, the arms of the reel being aligned with the arms of the coil holder, the ends of such arms being spaced but a short distance apart.

As the lever 98 is moved forwardly by the cam riser 108 the spring 99 is compressed, forcing the stripper shaft 94 forwardly relative to the shaft 43. The stripper plate 46* thus moves forwardly away from the back member 46 of the reel and pushes the coiled laces from off the arms of the reel onto the of the coil holder. In Fig. 9 the parts are shown in position for this transfer, and in Fig. 10 the parts are shown at the cornple tion of the transfer and just prior to the rearward movement of the stripper plate 46 During the forward movement of the stripper plate, the actuating rod 143 is moved by the riser 146 of the cam 146 and through the action of the cam arm 147 and the stop pin 148 swings the post 142, thus causing the presser shoe 155 to remain in contact with the outer coils of the skein during the transfer operation. Toward the end of this movement the plate 137 releases the clamping arm 136 of the coil holder of the turret, permitting the latter to snap into engagement with the ends of the coiled laces.

As soon as the transfer has been completed the cam follower roll 104 rides down oif of the high 00 part of the cam 105, thus permitting the spring 101 to move the shaft 43 with the reel and transfer plate rearwardly into the receiving position and the gripper jaws are again opened by the cam 54. The rod 143 now rides up onto the upper dwell of cam 146 where it remains until the next winding operation. The coiled laces are thus left upon the arms of the coil holder in the turret with their inner ends in the slot in the arm of the coil holder of the transfer turret and with their outer ends confined by the arm 136.

It being assumed that pairs of laces have previously been coiled and applied to the coil holders of the transfer turret, one of such holders with its coiled pair of laces will occupy the position shown in Fig. 4, relatively to the wrapping mechanism, during the time that a pair of laces is being transferred to the diametrally opposite holder as above described. As the turret turns to bring a coil holder into wrapping position, the cam 124 pushes the corresponding shaft 118 radially outward so as to thrust the loaded coil holder 125 into the space between the opposed dies 163 and 164. The knife 166 now severs a portion from the paper strip and the dies move 1115 inwardly toward each other, thus wrapping the paper strip about the coiled laces held by the arms of the coil holder. During this wrapping operation the arm 136 continues to hold the free ends of the laces in confinement so that they 1% can not escape during the wrapping operation. The paper wrapper is of sufficient width to embrace these free ends of the la'ces and after the wrapping operation is completed the coiled laces may be stripped from the arms of the coil 125 holder in any desired manner without danger the ends of the laces will be released.

As above stated the stripping of the wrapped laces from the coil holder after the wrapping operation may be performed by hand or by any 18 0 suitable mechanical means not shown.

While I have herein disclosed certain specific arrangements of parts for securing the desired result, I contemplate that other and equivalent means may be substituted therefor if desired, that 1% the parts may be arranged differently, and that in some cases certain parts may be omitted and so far as the process is concerned I contemplate that various of the process steps may be omitted or that the order of such steps may be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for packaging shoe laces comprising reeling means, and endless conveyor means adapted to receive laces from a lace tipping machine and automatically to present them to the reeling machine.

2. Apparatus for packaging independent strand-like articles comprising means for reel- 

